A new analysis of FINBIN data from 2007 to 2025 suggests financial performance differences between small and large crop farms may be narrowing. FINBIN is a farm financial and production database developed and maintained by the University of Minnesota.
Purdue agricultural economist Michael Langemeier found that operating profit margins were nearly identical across farm sizes, averaging about 20% regardless of acreage. The study compared farms with fewer than 500 crop acres to those with more than 2,000 acres.
While profitability and growth in net worth showed little difference, larger farms consistently posted stronger asset turnover ratios. This is a key measure of how efficiently assets generate revenue. Average asset turnover was 35.2% for the largest farms, compared to 22.3% for the smallest operations. However, the gap has narrowed over time.
The analysis states that differences in returns between large and small farms are driven more by financial efficiency than by profit margins. Future research is set to examine labor and machinery benchmarks.
